Dermot Kennedy @ AO Arena, Manchester 30th May 2026
- Trev Eales
- Jun 7
- 4 min read
Dermot Kennedy Turns Manchester’s AO Arena into an Intimate Woodland Gathering
Words and Photos - Trev Eales
Dermot Kennedy brings his The Weight of the Woods tour to Manchester AO Arena. It’s a night of deeply personal songs delivered by a charismatic, powerful performer who holds a special connection with his audience, turning the huge arena into something far more intimate.
The cavernous Manchester AO Arena is filled to capacity tonight and there’s a sense of anticipation in the air. In the half-light, musicians take their places. Centre stage, atop a flight of stairs, Dermot Kennedy’s silhouetted amid woodland greenery. His shadowy profile generating an explosive roar of recognition.
The gospel soaked, The Weight of the Woods (Reprise) is short and sweet but with an air of sombre gravitas. Descending the stairway Dermot pauses briefly, grinning widely as the spotlight hits.
His band break into Honest, driven by drums and unseen bodhran, its upbeat musicality masking lovelorn lyrical regret. The power of Kennedy’s voice is taken as given but there’s much more here. The song’s new to me but I’m immediately drawn in by the lyrics. There’s something special, something in his voice that makes us not just hear but listen. It’s a rare quality.
Some performers build toward a climax, saving fan favourites until last; but not tonight. Outnumbered comes early and as the initial guitar chords strike, the crowd erupt. Pausing before those emotive vocals kick in, Dermot utters three simple words; “Sing with me.” The invitation’s hardly necessary but it sets a tone. This is Dermot’s congregation. For all its vastness, Kennedy brings a sense of intimacy to the huge crowd; almost a feeling of us participating in our own private gig.
Sycamore brings another track from The Weight of the Woods album. We’ll get ten in all tonight and their sustained quality is testament to the album’s strength. Slow in pace and opening with a trip hop inspired beat, it’s another song wreathed in sadness.
Real care has been taken to ensure that production values are not only high but compliment and create a sympathetic accompaniment to the music. The band play amid greenery, foliage interspersed with rocky outcrops. At the rear, dark ruins protrude, framing a staircase. Behind it all projections flicker and fade in harmony with the music. An enchanted forest with fluttering fireflies gives way to pastoral green. Later, a dark sinister forest springs up, its skeletal trees evoking a sense of doom. At its best live music can be a symbiotic fusion of sound and vision and tonight is a real triumph.
Lost takes us back to the Without Fear album. Building from the raw emotive power of Dermot’s voice, it’s an homage to those uplifting positive voices around us with the strength to lift us from the depths of loss and despair.
When All My Friends follows a little later, the roar of recognition and anticipation that greets the opening words proves well founded. The track brings the AO choir into full voice once again.
And so to After Rain . . . Preceded by a protracted, heartfelt tale of his early musical struggles and sudden breakthrough, it feels like a centrepiece. Building from a fragile opening with just guitar, keyboards and voice, it builds and builds toward a towering rock epic. Dermot’s voice becomes increasingly emotive, his whole body consumed in passion, as the seven piece band career ever more frenetically toward a climax.
Roars of appreciation erupt once more, darkness ensues, and the band depart. We’re left wondering, is that it?
As darkness lifts they re-emerge, crammed onto a satellite stage arena centre. The semi acoustic mini set that follows brings the connection between performers and audience even closer. The bond of intimacy’s overwhelming, as myriad phone torches serenade the performers. There’s something vulnerable and spiritual here.
And the songs: Happiness; a deeply emotive track about departure, death, and saying goodbye with decency. Endless, searches for glimmers of hope in an endless night of darkness. And The Weight of the Woods; towering title track from the new album, overflowing with melancholy, and delivered by just Dermot’s voice and piano.
A swift return to the main stage sees the band back in full electric mode, heading for the finale. Turnstile opens with a guitar line owing a debt to Blue Oyster Cult’s, Don’t Fear The Reaper. Lyrically the song’s wallowing in sadness but musically uplifting. Better Days finds our protagonist searching for hope amid despair, and Power Over Me brings familiarity, hands in the air and the accompanying voices of thousands.
It’s a mark of self-confidence that he closes with Funeral. It’s another new song, fusing lyrical despair with jubilant, spiritually uplifting sounds. Is it a gamble? Of course not, the euphoric atmosphere just keeps on rising.
Tonight, Dermot Kennedy and his band have delivered something special. They’ve turned a 20,000 capacity arena into something truly intimate. We’ve experienced vulnerable, emotionally honest songwriting delivered through Dermot’s voice; powerful, emotive and passionate. There’s been a special connection between performer and crowd where deeply personal songs have been brought to life by great musicians, and enhanced by impressive visual production.
A triumph.
